Package for can goods



Sept. 20, 1955 F, PALMER 2,718,301

PACKAGE FOR CAN GOODS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 8, 1950 .m. nu...

INVENTOR BiA/wr .D-PHLMER BY maid/m9 TTORN Y5 United States Patent@fitice 2,718,301 Patented Sept. 20, 1955 PACKAGE 'FQR- CAN 1 GOODS-Frank D. Palmer, Longmeadow, Mass assignolt to Package MachineryCompany, East Longmeadow, Mass., a corporation of MassachusettsApplicationJuly s, 1 950,.Serial.No..172,697.

2 Claims. Cl: 20665) This. invention relates. to.- aportable. containerforcar rying and storing aplurality, of cans of food'such as beerand thelike.

It is an object. ofrthe inventiontoprovideasealedcon-- tainer in. whicha'plurality of canssuch as beer'cansmiay be packaged bywell-knowncartoning; machines and; which is provided-with integral carryinggneansof simpleand sturdy construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide.-carr-ying. means for thecontainer which-double as ventilatingmeans foreffective cooling ofthe'contents of the container when the same is placed'in storage.

A further object is to provide a carton; blank. which maybe shippedcompletely flat and-set-upinto a sealed. container with a minimum ofexpense.v

These and other. objects and advantagesv ofthe inven-- tion will. appearmore fully. developed! and explained in the following description takenwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figs. 1-3- are sectional details ofra portionrof'themew container,showing the methodof completing. adinger grip therein;

Fig. 4is aperspective view,,on asmall' scale, of a container being.carried by hand;

Fig. is asectional view ofa loaded containen, taken: on line 5-5 of Fig.4;

Figs. 6.:and-7 are perspective views-f containers having.- modifiedforms of. fingerv grips;

Fig. 8 is a plan-view. of az-blank to'bemanufactured into; the.container of Figs. 1-5; and

Figs. 9-12show progressive stepsinthe courseof suchmanufacture.

The. package with which the: presenn invention. is. concerned. comprisescontainer such as; a. carton L holding; in. this eXample,-. six cans.of. beer: positioned; in parallel, stacked relation as indicated: at;2.. The carton is-made: of any suitable material such as cardboard,pasteboard or the like. Finger grips are provided on opposite; sidewalls 3 and 3' of the carton adjacent the sidesof the cans by elongated,generally U-shaped cuts 4. The cuts. 4 maycompletely-separate-thegreater portion-of 'a container'wall from thematerial within thecuts, but preferably they leavesmallconnectingportions at spacedintervals'around the'cuts-as-shown-at 5(Fig; 8-). It-will be noted'thatithe top: ends of'a cut are'connectedbyascored hinge: line at: 6' along which the-upper halfof the materialembraced withinthe. cut, which-forms a-finger flap-7, may'befoldedagainst the'adjacent containenwall- 3'; Itwill befurther noted thatacoverpiece-8; comprising the lowerhalf' of the areaembracedwithimtheicut; is: separated from flap 7 by a roulette cut, andmay readily, be brokenfrom'the flap 7 upon application ofa slight fingerpressure;

Figs. l-3 illustrate most clearly the manner in which a carton 1 may beprepared for carrying from a shop to a customers home. In Fig. 1, thecarton wall 3 with the flap 7 and cover piece 8 present a continuoussurface, convenient for the uninterrupted display of advertising matteron the carton and preventing the entrance of dust and dirt 2. duringshipment or storage. To effect a finger grip on the carton, thepurchaser or the retail dealer presses his fingers against the roulettercut line between the flap 7 and cover piece 8. The cover piece 8- ispressed into engagement with the surface of the adjacent can 2 (Fig. 2),is broken from the flap 7-, and falls, as shown by Fig. 3, to the bottomof the carton. The flap 7 easily clears the adjacent can 2 and is foldedas shown against the adjacent carton Wall 3. The flap 7 serves, as shownby Fig. 3, to dull the edge on which the customers fingers press as hecarries the carton along in the manner illustrated by Fig. 4, providinga convenient and comfortable finger grip. It will be noted that thedouble wall thickness provided by the flap 7 also serves to reinforcethe carton at the area on which the greatest finger pressure is broughtto hear when the carton is being carried.

It will be noted that the cut 4 is positioned on the carton Wall so thatthehingle line 6 is on a plane tangent to two adjacent cans. Thispermits insertion of the fingers into the carton and provides roombetween the carton wall 3 and the adjacent cans 2 for the fingers tograspv the carton wall, as well as positioning. the portion 8 inposition to engage the adjacent can and to be broken thereby from theportion 7.

When the package. is.placed in a. refrigerator compartment, it is highlydesirable that the cans can be cooled as rapidly and efficiently aspossible.- T he open cut spaces for the finger, grips in thecarton wallsdestroy what would.

be, Without said spaces, the insulating effect of the walls 3" and 3'.The. open areas not only promote ready and efficient heat transfer byconduction directly through the. walls of the cans to the surroundingair, but they also afford an opportunity for the cool air of therefrigerator. compartment to circulate. through the carton and to carry.heat from the cans to the refrigerating coils by convection.

Figs. 6 and. 7 show modifications in the form of the above describedcarton.

In Fig. 6, generally U-shaped elongated cuts 4 (only. one of which isshown) areprovided on the top 9 and bottom (not shown) of the carton.These cuts embracev a cover piece (not shown), which was separated by aroulette cut from a finger flap- 7 hinged along a line at 10 to thecarton top.

A finger grip. is provided in the example of Fig. 7 by forming twoU-shaped cuts 11. on. opposite side walls 3 and 3' of a carton. Each cut11 is adapted to receive one finger. Other than as regards-size the cuts11 are. made in the same manner as cuts 4 previously described. Fingerflaps 12'are .indicated in dottedlines and are folded against theinnersurface of. the adjacent carton wall.

An important. advantage of this invention. lies in the fact that itprovides a carton which may be readily set up from a unitary blank intoa container for a plurality of cans by means of standard, well known.cartoning machinery. Moreover, such a blank, being flat and without.slidable inserts and. the like may be shipped morev conveniently andeconomically. than. carton blanks now available. Fig. 8 shows a cartonblank, and Figs. 9-12. show the operation of cartoning machineryuponthis blank to set up a. container.

As shown by Fig, 8, a.blank comprises two side walls.3. and3' with cuts4 as above described,,thewall 3' having. a connecting fiap 13iextendingalong the freeedge thereof; two side walls.14 and14', small top andbottom closure. flaps. 15 and 15 on the. opposite. end; edges. of walls3. and 3'; and large top and bottom closure flaps 16 and 16' on the endedges of walls 14 and 14'. Scored fold lines are provided along theintersections of the side walls and the closure flaps and are designatedby the numeral 17.

Fig. 9 shows an initial step in a cartoning operation. Six metal beercans 2 are positioned in symmetrical aligned arrangement in a double rowon an elevator 18. Any suitable means may be used to hold the canstogether in position on the elevator. The carton blank is positionedwith the side wall 14 in the path of the elevator 18, adjacent theelevator and between a frame member 19 and a floor plate 20.

As the elevator 18 rises and carries the cans and carton blank betweenmember 19 and plate 29, side walls 3 and 3 are laid against the sides ofthe cans while side wall 14' is pressed over what is at this stage thetop of the group of cans.

Then, as shown by Fig. 10, a transfer pusher 21 advances from one sideof the package. This pusher carries a pair of tuckers 22 which engagethe top and bottom closure flaps and 15 and press the same into contactwith the adjacent can surfaces. At the same time, a rear lower foldingblade 23 advances with the pusher 21 to engage the connecting flap 1.3to press the same into engagement with the adjacent can bottoms. Actingsubstantially simultaneously with these elements, a pivotal glueapplicator 24 swings into position to engage the lowermost dependingfree margin of the side wall 14, which is backed up by an anvil backstop25, and to apply a coat of glue to said margin.

At this juncture, the applicator 24 and backstop 25 withdraw fromengagement with the wall 14, the pusher 21 and folding blade 23 movetoward the floor plate 245, and the elevator 18 falls downwardly fromsupport of the cans.

The plate 2% constitutes the floor of a carton folding channel throughwhich the carton is then transported to complete the packagingoperation. Fig. 11 shows the end tuckers 26 which operate upon smallclosure flaps 15 and 15' and the reversely angled folding members 2'7which operate upon the large closure flaps 16 and 16 to complete theclosing of the carton ends in a well known manner. As the package istransported through the channel, and before it reaches the foldingmembers 27, glue is applied to the outstanding flaps 16 and 16' in anysuitable manner. The floor plate swings the side wall 14 into engagementwith the connecting flap 13 where the glued edge margin of the formerfastens the adjacent carton walls together.

Fig. 12 shows the condition of the carton, closed and sealed, after ithas passed completely through the folding channel.

All of the elements of the finger grips are present, but in completelyflat form, in the carton blank, before the wrapping operation is begun.This results in a sub stantial economy of time and labor in making thecarton, which, together with the economy of material effected by thefolding flap construction of the finger grips, makes available aconvenient, easily carried and inexpensive package for consumers.Consumers today are not generally able to purchase cans of beer inportable cartons containing fewer than twenty-four cans. The cost ofproviding cartons for smaller numbers of cans has been deemedprohibitive. It is believed the new carton has overcome cost objectionsraised heretofore, and widespread packaging of small numbers of beercans is now rendered feasible.

With regard to the method described above for enclosing the cans in thecartons, it has been found desirable to provide means on the elevator 18to magnetize the same. This conveniently holds the cans 2 in position onthe elevator. Wall 14' may be positioned transversely and in the path ofmovement of the elevator, either on top of the cans or between thebottom of the cans and the elevator. With the wall 14 on top of thecans, the cartoning is effected by the method described above. In thecase in which the wall 14' is held between the bottom of the cans andthe elevator, the elevator is moved downwardly between a pair of sidemembers to drape the carton blank wall portions against the sides of thecans. The elevator is then de-magnetized and the cans are transportedthrough a folding channel to complete the folding and sealing of thecartons substantially as already described.

What is claimed is:

1. A carton blank comprising four side wall sections connected to eachother by parallel fold lines, each of said sections being provided withend closure flaps, a narrow connecting flap being provided along thefree edge of one of said wall sections and being adapted to be securedin face to face relation to the free marginal portion of the oppositewall section, alternate wall sections being provided with generallyU-shaped cuts, the ends of each of said cuts being connected by a scoredhinge line parallel to the ends of said wall sections, one-half thematerial embraced within each of said cuts being adapted to be foldedagainst the adjacent wall section along said hinge line, the otherone-half of said material being divided by a roulette cut from saidfirstnamed half.

2. A package comprising a sealed container of cardboard in which aplurality of cylindrical cans are arranged in file, the cans in the filebeing parallel to and contiguous with each other, the top and bottomwalls of the container flatly engaging the tops and bottoms of the cans,and the side and end walls of the container tangentially engaging thesides of the cans, said container having an elongated flap formed byclosely spaced cuts at at least one side wall of the container, saidflap extending parallel with, but of less length than, the containers,said flap being connected along one long side to the body of said sidewall by a hinge forming crease positioned substantially centrallybetween and parallel with the lines of tangent contact of two adjacentcans with said side wall, the opposite and partially cut long side ofsaid flap being positioned closely adjacent and parallel with one ofsaid lines of tangent contact, said flap being divided longitudinallyinto two parts by a line of closely spaced cuts, said flap beingbreakable from the adjacent material of said wall along saidfirstmentioned spaced cuts and the portion of the flap remote from thehinge forming crease being breakable from the portion of the flapadjacent said crease along said secondmentioned line of spaced cuts, allby inward pressure exerted against said flap to thereby form a fingergrip opening in the container with the hinged portion of the flap bentagainst the inner face of the container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,166,389 Bergstein July 18, 1939 2,253,273 Haycock Aug. 19, 19412,284,385 Freshwaters May 26, 1942 2,297,284 Blackman Sept. 29, 19422,308,050 Burr Jan. 12, 1943 2,312,598 Sprague Mar. 2, 1943 2,323,467Guyer July 6, 1943 2,331,312 Dorfman Oct. 12, 1943 2,481,871 Potts Sept.13, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 503,786 Great Britain Apr. 13, 1939

